Doing It Old-School

The big news at SCOTUS today is, of course, the health care arguments. These cases are off-topic for the blog, so we haven't mentioned them here, but I was amused by this story in the NYT by Michael Shear, who obviously does not usually cover Supreme Court arguments.

No Twitter messages will be allowed. No one in the room will be
permitted to make a telephone call. There will be no BlackBerrys or
laptops or iPads to blog with.

* * *

Rarely has so much in-the-moment attention been focused on arguments
before the Supreme Court, which stubbornly sticks to traditions that
predate the communications revolution. "NO electronics devices," a court
memorandum says. "Note taking only material is allowed in the Courtroom
(i.e., pen & pad)."

As all SCOTUS-watchers know, this is standard procedure. Personally, I find it rather refreshing that there remains at least one Twitter-free zone. Sometimes immediacy matters (e.g., when you are having a heart attack), and sometimes it doesn't. Does it matter if you learn about the oral argument an hour after it concludes rather than as it is going on? Not in the least.